How Long is Always?
by Shizumaru
Summary: Fifteen years after the game. After a ten month absence, Vincent returns to Wutai and Yuffie with the fruits of his quest.
1. 1

How Long is "Always"?  
  
A Final Fantasy 7 Fanfic from Oddzilla Productions.  
  
Part 1.  
  
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Vincent wondered how she was going to welcome him home. When it came to things like this, she could be utterly, utterly unpredictable.  
  
Would she hit him? Would she kiss him? Would she do one of those, then followed by the other? If not for the fact that it was difficult to do both at once, he'd have to weigh in the possibility of her doing precisely that. Maybe she'd kiss him while she kneed him in the....  
  
No, she wouldn't do that to him. Probably not. He hoped.  
  
Actually, Yuffie probably would, if he provoked her sufficiently. And while she had knowingly let him go, however reluctantly, almost ten months ago now, she had this way of nursing annoyance which ensured it would come back to haunt him later. And almost-ten-months was a considerable amount of time for something like that--especially for her.  
  
This brought him back to the present: staring at the sliding door in front of him, beyond which he knew was his wife, Lady Wutai.  
  
Well. Time to take this like a man inhabited by a few demons. He hooked the latch with his burnished metal claw and opened the door, and cleared his throat in the way that meant, "Honey, I'm home."  
  
She never sat with her back to a door, something that she learned from her father at a very young age. This let him see the slight crease that marred her brow as she stared down at a stack of papers on her desk. Her hair had grown out a little, too; long enough to be in a braid that snaked down around her neck and rested on her collarbone. He saw her eyes flicker up to him, back down to the paper, widen slightly, and then rise up again, slowly.  
  
"Vinnie?"  
  
"Hello, Yuffie."  
  
He was then forced to duck the paperweight that was pitched exactly at head height but succeeded only in making a crack in the wall behind him. This, however, left him completely vulnerable to the leaping tackle that sent him slamming into the ground in the hallway. Funny; he didn't think of her throwing something at him. Especially something other than one of her shuriken. Conformer would have really hurt.  
  
"YOU GREAT BIG JERK! You could stand to do a little more than just send a short letter once a month, you know! And something like TELLING YOUR WIFE that you're coming back HOME would be appreciated too!"  
  
"...I'm sorry, Yuffie, but mmmmmmmmmmmm. Mmm."  
  
He decided to succumb quietly and just kiss her back for the time being. There would be time for words later, and this was a lot nicer than words.  
  
"Leviathan, I missed you," she murmured against his chest after they finally broke apart for air. "And the twins...at least you made it back in time for their birthday."  
  
"The reason I wanted to make it back tonight. Late as it was."  
  
She drew herself up and punched him in the shoulder, hard. "How'd you get in without anyone knowing?"  
  
"I was a Turk once. And I am married to the greatest lady ninja Wutai has ever known."  
  
"Flattery isn't going to get you anywhere, buddy." Nevertheless, she seemed to accept the answer and sighed. "So. You know what happens now."  
  
"Yes, I know. I owe you an explanation."  
  
"No."  
  
"No?"  
  
There was a ripping sound.  
  
"Yuffie, this was one of my better shirts."  
  
More ripping, followed by a pop.  
  
"The maids won't be happy about having to replace the button on my pants, Yuffie...."  
  
A few more seams came apart.  
  
"...but I suppose you've just decided...in your own words, 'screw 'em'."  
  
"No, Vinnie, that's what I'm going to do to you right now, if you haven't already figured it out yet. Gawd, it's been TEN MONTHS."  
  
He didn't argue much after that.  
  
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Eventually, they found themselves in their bed. The bed that Vincent hadn't slept in for a long while. And judging by the glare that she was giving him, now that she'd recovered from the afterglow, he wouldn't be sleeping in it for a little while longer.  
  
_But she was still beautiful._  
  
"Explanation now?"  
  
"Explanation now. Where the hell did you go for ten months?"  
  
He sighed. Were he any other man, he'd probably try to beg it off until morning. But it was already morning, if one counted 3am as the morning, and he knew that she wouldn't be put off. It had taken him a hell of a time convincing her to let him leave without explaining his intent, beyond a promise to keep in regular contact and return within a year no matter what--whether this quest succeeded or not.  
  
"I've been...in New Midgar. And Nibelheim."  
  
"Yes, I know that," she said, a bit acidly. "You had the grace to say as much in the letters. Now what were you doing there?"  
  
He opened his mouth, frowned, and reconsidered. She said nothing at this point, but showed the patience she had learned as the ruler of a nation, something that hadn't come to her easily but had to come nevertheless. "I was...Yuffie, do you know how old I am?"  
  
She didn't miss a beat, despite the apparent change in subject. "Seventy-two now, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes. Twenty-seven when I was put in that coffin. Thirty years when you found me. And fifteen years since."  
  
"Mmm. Ten of 'em married to me. If that hasn't aged you, then nothing will. Not that I'm arguing...not only do you not look a day over twenty-seven, honey," she said, a wicked grin rising to her face, as she reached down beneath the covers and did something that made him grunt quietly. "You don't act a day over it, either."  
  
He coughed. Yes, utterly unpredictable. Something that made life that much more interesting. "I'm about four decades older than you, Yuffie. But...."  
  
"But?" The grin had already disappeared from her face, and she looked at him somberly.  
  
"You're physically older than me, now. By a couple of years."  
  
She was silent, frowning again as she considered this.  
  
When she frowned, it wasn't so much that a wrinkle in her brow appeared, so much as a very slight one which was there deepened visibly. And when she stopped smiling, the lines around her mouth didn't disappear, they just faded mostly. Mostly. And that's what he'd noticed nearly a year ago.  
  
He didn't smile much, didn't frown much. He was Vincent Kisaragi, nee Valentine, and Vincent Valentine had never smiled or frowned much. But even if he did, he didn't wouldn't have such lines on his face.  
  
"I'm aging but you're not."  
  
"I lost someone a long time ago, Yuffie, and had to live with it. I don't want to have to do that again."  
  
"Hojo's labs. His data. That's why you were in New Midgar, meeting up with Reeve, and in Nibelheim."  
  
"Yes."  
  
She looked uncertain, something that was unusual for her. As if she couldn't decide whether to embrace him or turn her back to him. He didn't care much for the latter, not so soon after coming back, so he leaned forward and made the decision for her and drew her close. "I'm sorry, Yuffie. I just couldn't tell you back then."  
  
"Why not?" she asked, softly.  
  
"Several reasons."  
  
"Try me, Vinnie."  
  
He sighed. "I didn't want to worry you. You would have wanted to come, but you needed to stay here. Wutai needs you, the twins need you. They could do without me for a year."  
  
"There's no child that can do without a parent, even if it's just one year, Vinnie," she retorted, genuine anger rising in her voice. He winced, as she continued, "Trust me on that one. I know."  
  
"What else could I have done, then?" he asked, quietly. "Wutai _does_ need its Lady. And the children needed to stay." Unsaid was: And I needed to do this.  
  
There was a brief silence. "Kenji is doing very well in school; the tutors are scrambling to draw up new lessons for him. Though Ayumi is better so far in martial arts."  
  
"I know. Your letters tended to be longer than mine."  
  
She thumped him again. "You noticed. I hoped you'd take the hint too."  
  
"There wasn't much worth saying without giving away what it was I was looking for."  
  
"So...what exactly were you looking for?"  
  
He took a deep breath. "Well, there were two possibilities. One was to find the process that Hojo used to...change me. The other was a reversal of the process."  
  
Yuffie nodded, bit her lip in thought. "You said a year, but you're back early. Which did you find?"  
  
"I found both."  
  
Another silence, longer this time.  
  
"All right, Vinnie. We're going to get some sleep now, because while I promised Kenji he could sleep in tomorrow, it being his birthday and all, Ayumi is going to be up at the crack of dawn to harass me to teach her more techniques. And when she discovers you in here too, she's going to start harassing you for horsie rides. And then Kenji will be upset that he slept in the morning that his father suddenly reappeared. And then Gorki, Shake, Chekov, and Staniv are going to bellow at you in turns cuz it's 'not done' for the Lord Consort of Wutai to sneak back home unannounced. Godo too, whenever he finally climbs out of bed. And then we're having the birthday party. And then, after that, once we've put the twins to bed, we're going to talk some more."  
  
"Yes, Yuffie."  
  
"Vincent?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I love you, even when you're being a dork and disappear for ten months without telling me why first."  
  
"I love you too, Yuffie. Good night."  
  
End Part 1.  
  
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Worried that I've bitten off a little more than I can chew. Not only is it my first dabbling with FF7 fic, it's been a long time since I've played the game too; hoping my characterizations are believable. Sure, it's fifteen years after the game, and these two have been married for a decade, but there's got to be a grounding in their characters as they appeared way back then. I'm a bit uneasy about this; please tell me if y'all who know them better and have written about them find anything off.  
  
And if you find the plot in need of adjustment/unsatisfactory/plain stupid, tell me that as well. Plots are not my strong point. And heck, this ain't going to be all that much of a plot anyway.  
  
I was also intending originally for this to be a single part, with the whole thing discussed and decided, but something as momentous as this isn't going to be taken care of in a single night. Of course, this means I'm going to have to show their two kids and a slice more of their married life (and life as rulers of Wutai), at which point I'm getting more worried. But we'll just have to see how it goes, eh?  



	2. 2

How Long is "Always"?  
  
A Final Fantasy 7 Fanfic from Oddzilla Productions.  
  
Part 2.  
  
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The day began much as Yuffie had predicted the previous night--with only a few minor exceptions. Such as having to shoo Ayumi from the master bedroom, vaguely red-faced due to her inopportune interruption of a slightly more-than-affectionate early morning moment, before getting squeezed into a tight hug from the little girl _(but she was getting bigger how could she have grown so much in just several months)_ and then being forced into playing horsie for his young princess. Vincent was certain no previous Lord of Wutai had ever been subjected to such extended indignities--not even Godo, according to Yuffie, as her old man had made an absolutely lousy horsie back in the day--but he had realized long ago that he really didn't care. A lot of the proper royal decorum had gone out the window when Yuffie ascended to the throne, and even more had followed with the arrival of the twins.  
  
Kenji had been awoken by the ruckus and trudged in bleary-eyed to complain, but the words died on his lips as he saw his father, in the flesh and not some waking dream right in front of him. The way the boy's eyes lit up said, loud and clear: Here's another reason you have for living today, Vincent Kisaragi, Lord Vincent, once Vincent Valentine, once a Turk, but now _Daddy_. Aren't you glad?  
  
Yes, I am.  
  
And once the children had gone off to go find their friends after breakfast had finished, he had barely heard the stern lectures given by each of Yuffie's loyal retainers, which all had sounded remarkably similar in content if not voice, over the impropriety of someone such as Vincent-sama skulking into Wutai in the dead of night without any prior warning. He understood authority, having been Authority long ago in a neatly pressed blue suit, and was Authority once again here. But some days, you just didn't care much, when you were sitting in a sunny room with a pair of gray eyes sparkling merrily at you across the table.  
  
What was unexpected was when Lord Godo of Wutai (retired) poked his head into the breakfasting room, eyed his son-in-law with uncharacteristic conviction and faint menace, and declared, "If you ever do something like this to my daughter and my grandchildren again, I will have to take certain measures," before vanishing with the speed and skill of the great shinobi he must have been in his prime.  
  
"What are 'certain measures' exactly, Yuffie?" Vincent asked his wife.  
  
"I dunno. But whatever it is, it won't be anything compared to _my_ 'certain measures'. You understand, honey?"  
  
He did, and tried not to think about that too much. Instead, he said, "I suppose I should meet with some of the council elders now that I've returned."  
  
"Good idea. The rumors about your return are spreading already, and I think some of them say you came back bleeding and half-dead."  
  
"I'm afraid I will have to disappoint them, then."  
  
She snorted and leaned forward. "Somehow, you're one of the more popular Lords of Wutai in collective memory, despite being a brooding, dark weirdo with no sense of humor. I don't know what they see in you."  
  
"And yet you married me?"  
  
"I'm weak against brooding dark weirdoes with a sense of humor that only comes out under special circumstances."  
  
It had all been said before, but it was good to hear it again. "Do I need to help out with the preparations?"  
  
"No, not really. It's only their sixth birthday, the servants have it all taken care of already. Now, next year...."  
  
He nodded. "A Wutai-wide festival for the twin heirs as they turn seven."  
  
"And if you try to disappear on us again...."  
  
"Yuffie, it's not like you to make the same threat again so soon."  
  
She just grinned. "Go and see the elders and make sure you're back in time for lunch."  
  
Vincent rose, did a mock-bow, and ran out of the room while dodging steamed buns thrown with deadly accuracy.  
  
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Though he vastly preferred the company of his wife to an old Wutaian man, Vincent was glad to see Elder Inoue, the most senior of the Council, wise and worthy of respect. He bowed to the gray-haired man formally and said, "It is good to see that you are well."  
  
Elder Inoue peered up at Vincent. "Good to see you aren't bleeding and half-dead."  
  
"The rumors were rather inaccurate, I'm afraid."  
  
"I wasn't talking about that," Inoue snapped, thwacking Vincent on the arm with his cane. "I was expecting your wife to have ripped you a new one by now." He paused, let his gaze flicker up and down the prodigal Lord Consort. "So, what are you going to tell us to tell the people?"  
  
Vincent smiled slightly, which was the equivalent of an enormous grin for him. Elder Inoue hadn't changed a bit. "Well, what are they saying, aside from me having come back injured?"  
  
"That's the most rampant one, really. Why else would you sneak back at such an hour?" Inoue said, starting to stroll down the garden path in the council building courtyard; Vincent took up the relaxed pace at the man's side. "Your wife took care of the other big rumor shortly after you left."  
  
"Other big rumor?" Vincent raised an eyebrow quizzically.  
  
"That you'd up and left her for some other woman."  
  
"..."  
  
"That fool Tanaka was laid up in the hospital for a month. He still screams at the sight of a sake cup."  
  
"..."  
  
"As it is, that one was squashed pretty quickly, when...eh? Lord Vincent?" Inoue stopped, turned to look back at Vincent, who'd stopped dead several steps behind. "What? Oh, is it really that surprising to you?" He stomped back and jabbed at Vincent with his walking stick. "The way you vanished like that, you should have expected something like that, you know."  
  
A shake of the head. "I suppose you're right, Elder. Just that...."  
  
"Just what?"  
  
"The idea of being unfaithful to Yuffie is utterly alien to me, I'm afraid."  
  
Vincent was rewarded by a blank stare from Elder Inoue, before the old man suddenly burst out in a cackle. "That's a rich one, lad," he chortled, completely ignoring the fact that the two of them were only a few years apart chronologically. Or that he was talking to his Lord. "I'll be damned. I wish my grandson and his wife were still like that." He turned and started walking again. "Instead, they're fighting day in and day out again. I'm going to have to beat some sense into their heads sometime."  
  
Vincent allowed himself a small smirk. "Give them time. They are young yet; they simply need to find the right balance in their lives together."  
  
Inoue trailed off into irritable muttering for a while as they continued strolling through the garden.  
  
"By the way...Tanaka...."  
  
"Hm? Oh. Tanaka Ryuu. The weaver."  
  
Vincent frowned. That man loved to drink, if he remembered correctly. "Sake cups?"  
  
"He was drunk at the time, which was why he was stupid enough to ask her who the other woman was. So she kicked him up and down the block a few times, then took the cup he'd been drinking from, and--"  
  
"Let me guess. Where the sun does not shine."  
  
"Very good. The surgery took several hours, apparently."  
  
Vincent winced.  
  
"After that, the Lady threatened to do the same with her Conformer to anyone else who breathed even a word of the same thing. That probably only encouraged the viewpoint for some people, but at least the whispering did die down pretty quickly."  
  
"Mmmm."  
  
"So, what're you going to have us say? Better if you could make a public appearance and say it yourself, but I know the twins are having their birthday today, and it wouldn't be fair to steal their thunder. Or their father. You should probably appear before them tomorrow anyway."  
  
This was probably one of the things Vincent didn't like so much about being married to the ruler of Wutai. Their lives were that much less their own; while generally the populace was happy to let their private lives remain private, something like this did merit an explanation. Even if the reason behind the whole thing was a personal one.  
  
But then, maybe it wasn't completely a personal thing. After all, there were risks here, and the well-being of the Lord and Lady of Wutai had a bearing on their people....  
  
"I went on a quest," Vincent said, slowly, mind working furiously to assemble the right words, "in order to...to...."  
  
"This isn't like you, Lord Vincent," Inoue broke in suddenly. "Tell me why you went. And don't give me that look. You know you can trust me with this."  
  
"You know my nature."  
  
"I do."  
  
"I did not want to watch my wife grow old in front of me, while I remained like this for...forever."  
  
"Hmmm. I see. And understand. It was pretty hard after Kana passed away six years ago, but I'll be with her again someday."  
  
They walked along in silence for a while after that. Mortality tends to do that to people.  
  
"It is a tricky thing," Inoue finally said. "It's both intensely personal and something that matters to the people. But what exactly do you intend to do?"  
  
"There are two solutions that I have found--giving her the same extended lifespan, or ridding myself of my own. I haven't yet discussed it with Yuffie; there hasn't really been time yet. Tonight, after the party, we intend to talk it out."  
  
"Complicated. Some would jump at the chance to be young forever. But it could very well get tiresome after a while."  
  
"I am grateful that my condition let me meet Yuffie, as well as the rest of AVALANCHE all those years ago, and help save the Planet. But it is also a curse."  
  
"Well, Wutai is glad to have you too. For the most part, anyhow."  
  
"So, Elder, what do you think should be said?"  
  
"That's what I was asking you," the old man retorted. "But...hm. It might be better for you to talk it over with the Lady before making a statement. So you can tell them one way or another for sure."  
  
"Probably so."  
  
"All right. We'll just circulate an announcement that you were questing on behalf of your wife and that you have returned safely and successfully, and that you'll be telling them soon what it was about. Might start some tongues wagging again, but that's life. When d'you think you'll make a decision?"  
  
"I don't know. Possibly tonight."  
  
"Well, don't rush yourself, it's a big choice."  
  
"Of course. Are there any new issues of late that might require my specific attention?"  
  
"Nothing in particular, but best talk to your wife about that," Inoue said, not missing a beat. "She might want your help for one thing or another."  
  
"Well, then, if that is all...."  
  
"Right. Just tell your daughter not to beat up my great-grandson too badly when he comes to the party."  
  
"Ah. Yes, certainly."  
  
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He found her in the office again, looking over the same stack of papers she'd been examining the night before. She beckoned him over instead of throwing something this time, though.  
  
"What are you working on?"  
  
"New trade treaty. You know how the cities on the North Continent formed that federation of theirs last year?"  
  
"Yes." He pulled a chair around to her side and sat down, looking over her shoulder.  
  
"They're doing some collective bargaining on us now. Pretty tough terms." She shook her head.  
  
"What do our economic advisors say?"  
  
"Staniv recommends that we hold out. But I know these people--they're going to be hard to sway. And now that they've banded together like that, they have the weight to throw behind all of this." She sighed and flopped back in the chair. "I wish I could just go and beat them up like I would have done fifteen years ago."  
  
"We are trying to trade with them, not start a war with them."  
  
"Things were so much simpler back then! Bah." She threw down the pen she'd been holding, bounced it off the papers. "This is so boring."  
  
Vincent almost cringed. Things could go very hard on him whenever she was bored. "Well, let me help you out with that. There's still an hour before lunch, maybe we can make some progress before--"  
  
"Daddy!"  
  
"Or perhaps not. Hello again, Ayumi."  
  
She leapt onto his lap and gave him a hug. "Kenji's being boring again!"  
  
He chuckled quietly and hugged her back. "Well, he did get woken up by someone being very noisy this morning."  
  
"He's not sleeping, he's just reading. Again."  
  
Twins were usually not good news for a ruling family of a nation; sticky issues of inheriting tended to pop up. But it rather looked like Kenji might be better suited for the position many years down the line; he'd be able to put up with the parts of ruling that his mother would declare boring. And Ayumi would as well.  
  
But that was for another day. "Best leave him be for now. He'll be running around just as much as you when all your friends come over later on."  
  
She pouted. "But I wanted to show him the throw Mommy taught me yesterday."  
  
Translation: she wanted to launch him, he didn't want to be launched. "I see."  
  
Yuffie broke in at this point, smiling. "I'll be teaching that to him soon anyway. Besides, weren't you going to be playing with your friends?"  
  
"They had to go home for lunch. And wrapping my presents." She shrugged, looking disgruntled. Though both children had the finest available to them, they seemed to care little for material things, though Kenji did treasure his books, and Ayumi took almost obsessive care of the few weapons she was allowed (a wooden sword and some blunted shuriken). She would rather play with them now, and forget about gifts.  
  
"You will have all afternoon to be with them at the party," Vincent said, placing a hand on her head. She grinned up at him.  
  
"Yeah, okay. That means having more time to be with you!" He chuckled, shot a little look over at Yuffie, who shrugged back. But she saw this, and said, "Or are you busy with the boring stuff right now?"  
  
"Well...."  
  
"It's all right, honey. This can wait. Why don't you show Daddy the throw that I taught you instead?"  
  
Trade treaties were forgotten for the present. There would be time later.  
  
End Part 2.  
  
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Not the best of places to break this, but the chapter was getting long, and it's also way overdue. I'm kind of worried about the pacing of this, but am really not sure what to do about it. Expect one or two more chapters to finish off the story. Kenji will be making his appearance later.  
  
Rose Flame: thank you for cranking up my review count--plus, for some reason, I never did see your review in my email inbox. Aheh. n.n; Might have been buried in the hordes of spam I get these days.  
  
Dust Traveller: thank you also, and I would be happy to help you out on your fic, if you still need it at this late time.  
  
Thanks also to chaotic pink chocobo, Jenza1202, and Runic Knight. Your reviews are appreciated.  



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